The Earl of Arms and Ammo #5
Hailey led Faruk, a truly magnificent bay, into the riding arena and spoke to him quietly while she tightened the girth and then sat up.
The horse pranced, still nervous and tense when Hailey took him for a few laps around the riding arena.
Even Shona, who was comparably little more than an amateur when it came to horses, realised that this one didn’t know anything beyond carrying a rider around a track at a full gallop.
Dressage lessons in all gaits, such as those performed with regular riding horses, were a foreign concept to him.
Many racehorse trainers worked like that, so in itself, it was not necessarily unusual.
But Shona knew that Rupert and Hailey strongly believed that every horse benefited from solid basic training.
Rupert didn’t let on, but Kendrick frowned disapprovingly and, for once, she found herself agreeing with Dr Animal Wellbeing.
Though the horse’s nervously flared nostrils and tense movements were not a pretty sight, Hailey stayed calm and confident throughout.
“She’s far too heavy for him,” the earl huffed.
“The horse is badly trained,” Rupert replied curtly.
“A racehorse doesn’t need dressage lessons,” countered vet Hillington.
Kendrick was about to cut in, but Rupert put a hand on his arm and shook his head ever so slightly.
“Hailey, let’s take him to the track. I want to see how he reacts when he sees a starting gate,” Rupert called to his daughter, handed the reins of Nihal over to Kendrick and turned to walk to the track.
Kendrick stroked the mare’s chestnut neck.
Shona and Kristy stayed behind with him and the sleazy assistant, who was cursed with the rather ridiculous name Harrison Cord.
From a distance, they saw Faruk acting out and categorically refusing to get anywhere even close to the starting stalls.
“Gosh, I would have fallen off a dozen times already,” Kristy gasped after the horse made another series of rodeo-worthy leaps, but Hailey made staying in the saddle look easy.
“Me too,” Shona admitted. “But I wouldn’t have gotten on in the first place. I don’t have a death wish!”
They couldn’t hear what was being said on the track, but eventually Hailey turned Faruk around and let him go all out.
The bay sprinted around the track at breathtaking speed and seemed a lot more relaxed when he and Hailey arrived back at the riding arena.
She patted his neck and dismounted. Rupert, the earl and his vet were already back.
“Interesting,” Hailey said simply as she handed Faruk’s reins to the assistant.
“Now I’m going to have a go with this young lady.
” She smiled at Kendrick and then led Nihal to the centre of the riding arena.
They had been told that the mare was impossible to ride and would throw off even the most experienced equestrians.
Hailey continued to look calm and confident, but Shona was glad her cousin was wearing a protective waistcoat in addition to the obligatory helmet.
At first, Hailey made no attempt to mount at all but simply led the mare across the arena at a leisurely pace.
From time to time she stopped, petted Nihal and readjusted her girth.
Apparently, she went one hole at a time, because it took forever before the saddle was tight enough.
It looked like Nihal didn’t mind what was happening.
In fact, she eagerly walked alongside Hailey and showed no penchant to attack her, as they had been warned she might.
Instead, she lowered her head from round to round, lengthened her neck and she seemed to calm down.
Everyone noticed, except her owner. The earl was getting impatient.
“What are you doing? This isn’t some dog you take for a walk; it’s a racehorse worth millions! I want to see results,” he complained gruffly, and Shona found him more unpleasant by the minute.
“I haven’t seen her this relaxed in a long time,” Dr Hillington interjected, rather shyly.
“She doesn’t need to be relaxed; she needs to do her job. Which is to let people ride her and win races!”
Shona noticed the clenching of Kendrick’s jaw, as if he were fighting an urge to strangle the arrogant prick – and she couldn’t blame him.
She felt like punching the earl herself.
Rupert, on the other hand, kept his cool.
At a sign from Hailey, he joined her at the far end of the riding arena. Apparently, Hailey was ready to mount.
Father and daughter spoke briefly – Shona couldn’t hear what they discussed from where she was standing – then Rupert helped Hailey up.
Shona was surprised, as Hailey was able to mount even the gigantic Clydesdales by herself, but perhaps this was more comfortable for the horse.
Nihal’s body language changed abruptly. Her ears laid flat, she threw her head back and snapped at Hailey’s legs before she bucked like Faruk had earlier when facing the starting gate.
Kendrick shook his head, and his expression alternated between pity and anger.
Shona felt the same way. She had grown up around horses, and while she was nowhere near as accomplished as Hailey, she understood enough to know how unusual the mare’s behaviour was.
At least if you applied the criteria for good human-animal interaction that she had grown up with.
Hailey eventually managed to guide Nihal onto the track and let her run.
As long as they raced along at breakneck speed, the horse had no chance to act up, but as soon as they slowed down and returned to the riding arena, the rodeo performance was back on.
Hailey remained safely in the saddle but dismounted as soon as they came to a halt by her father.
“I think that was an interesting first impression,” commented Rupert as they returned to the group along with the sweaty, still upset horse. “Let’s take them back to the stables now so Dr McIntosh can have a look at them. And then we’ll decide what to do next.”
“Are you saying that’s it for today?” asked the earl.
“That was more than enough for Day 1,” replied Rupert coolly. “Besides, you booked your rooms for two months. You must have realised this will take a while.” Shona noticed her uncle shoot Kendrick a brief glance laden with meaning.
“I don’t think you need to concern yourself with my accommodation, apart from ...
” The earl interrupted himself and shook his head.
“Anyway, how long I have rented these cottages for bears no relation to the expected duration of my horses’ stay here, which is all we have to discuss.
So could you give me an estimated timeline? ”
“It’s far too early for that,” Rupert objected. “Let’s see how we get on tomorrow.”
“In that case ...” The earl checked his watch and then barked at his assistant to get ‘the machine’ ready.
Harrison gave the group a curt nod, pulled his phone out of his pocket and hurried off towards the car park.
“As there’s nothing more for me to do here, I suggest we move on to the more pleasant part of the day.
Harrison is ringing my pilot, who will have us ready for take-off in ninety minutes.
Ladies, we’re spending the evening in Paris!
You have an hour to get changed, then we’ll head to the airport. ”
Was this guy for real?! Shona made eye-contact with her cousins.
Kristy looked shell-shocked and for the first time even Hailey seemed a little stunned.
“Unfortunately, I am not free tonight,” Shona said, giving the earl a polite smile – or what she hoped would be perceived as polite.
“Kristy and I both have a prior engagement.”
“Hardly anything important enough to skip a trip to Paris I would assume.” The earl’s sleazy, self-important demeanour was increasingly getting on Shona’s nerves.
“In fact, it’s so important that I’d skip a trip around the world for it.
Wouldn’t you agree, Kristy?” Fortunately, her cousin had the presence of mind to snap out of her stupor and nod eagerly.
“Actually, we need to be going right away,” Shona continued.
“Have a pleasant evening. Au revoir, monsieur!” Shona gave Kristy an encouraging nod to follow her out.
She couldn’t breathe the same air Lord Wanker for a second longer!
Shona did feel a pang of guilt for abandoning Hailey, but her cousin could find her own way out of this, given that she had brought this upon them in the first place.
As they left the riding arena, Shona caught a glimpse from Kendrick that went right to her core.
It looked like relief, a hint of admiration and something else she wouldn’t think about.
She had probably only imagined it anyway.
Shona and Kristy fled to Rupert and Alice’s house at a jog, almost running into Harrison Cord, who was still barking orders into his phone. Most likely, Lord Wanker’s assistant was booking suites for the night in some Parisian luxury hotel.
“Hailey really owes us now,” Shona said to Kristy when they were finally out of earshot and out of sight. Then she couldn’t help but giggle. She was happy she had recovered her good humour so fast!
“She’ll owe us for the next decade,” her cousin agreed. “Or to the end of her days, more like. But now I really want to know why Kendrick gave you that look.”
Crap! Maybe she hadn’t imagined it after all ...